Contents

Biography

Pylea

Lorne was born as Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan in the demonic dimension of Pylea. He has two brothers, one that was at some point devoured by their parents, and Numfar. Lorne, as he preferred to be called, wasn't like his fellow Deathwok demons, bloodthirsty "champions" constantly undertaking quests against evil. He was a gentle soul who did not share his kin's prejudice against humans (or "cows" as they were called in his world). Lorne would rather flirt with the females and enjoy life than train to be a fighter, claiming that he had little inclination to train how to fight because he saw both sides of the argument, reasoning that he didn't have it in him to fight a man when he partially agreed with his opponent's point of view. He also enjoyed beauty, art, and even music, which was difficult considering his world had no music. Lorne refused to train his innate mystical senses to learn to hunt beasts and was considered the shame of his clan.

Caritas

In 1996, Lorne happened upon a dimensional portal and was sucked through it, unknowingly trading places with his future friend Winifred Burkle in the process. He landed in Los Angeles, and discovered music and culture like he never imagined. Lorne learned to hone his mystical senses to read people's auras, but found it easiest to do so when they sang, baring their souls. He decided to open up a karaoke bar on the same spot that he arrived on Earth, an old abandoned building. Lorne contracted the Transuding Furies to cast a sanctuary spell on the spot, which stopped any demon violence from occurring on it. He named the bar "Caritas," the Latin word for "mercy."

Caritas became a success in the morally ambiguous Los Angeles underground scene, with many beings visiting to sing for Lorne to be told their futures. To most who visited the bar, Lorne was simply called "The Host." He later stated that he didn't use the name "Lorne" in this dimension, because his striking green skin prompted people to make Lorne Greene jokes. Firmly believing that anyone, whether good, evil, or "morally ambiguous", could turn their lives around if given sufficient guidance, Lorne opened his bar to humans and demons alike, even Baby-killer demons; the only time he ever banned someone from Caritas was an incident involving Orpheus dealers.[1]

Lorne

Lorne was always reluctant to help Angel and his friends, preferring to maintain a neutral stance and simply provide a peaceful place for all demons, but his essential goodness usually won out over his reticence. He started off by giving the characters advice and encouragement, but as time went on, he became more directly involved in the cases of Angel Investigations - even asking for Angel's help to avert the end of the world when Angel had severed ties with the rest of the group after Darla's resurrection - and his many contacts in Los Angeles' magical underworld prove useful. Lorne somewhat reluctantly joined the team in their mission to Pylea to rescue Cordelia Chase, discovering that he could incapacitate the natives by singing songs and causing them to cower from "the strange noise." Upon leaving, he decided that returning to Pylea had been good for him as it had reaffirmed that he did not belong there and was right to stay away.

Angel Investigations

Caritas was raided by Charles Gunn's old gang and was temporarily put out of action, finally being completely destroyed by Daniel Holtz. After that, Lorne decided to move into the Hyperion Hotel with the Angel Investigations team; his skills in diplomacy and aura reading were of great use to them, and he also often looked after the infant Connor while Angel was on business. Eventually, he left to start a singing career in Las Vegas, but left after a crime lord forced him to use his empathic abilities to locate audience members with promising futures so he could steal them. During the ensuing fight, Lorne himself smashed the item holding everyone's destinies and returned them to their rightful owners. Back in L.A. after being rescued by Angel, Gunn and Fred, Lorne helped restore Cordelia's lost memories and was part of the fight against the resulting Jasmine crisis.

Wolfram & Hart

When Angel took over Wolfram & Hart, Lorne found himself the new head of their Entertainment Division, at first fitting into the job with relative ease and making various business deals in the film industry, as well as organizing the Wolfram & Hart Halloween party (although this event was nearly disrupted due to Lorne's subconscious manifesting as a dangerous monster after he had his ability to sleep extracted to cope with the demands on his time). As time went on, his kindness was slowly replaced by a growing cynicism and self-loathing of his position of "cheerleader" for Angel and his friends, particularly when Gunn was abandoned in a Hell dimension to recover Lindsey McDonald because Lindsey could possess information they needed; Lorne had always assumed that they didn't leave anyone behind.

“I'll do this last thing for you, for us... but then I'm out, and you won't find me in the alley afterward. Hell, you won't find me at all. Do me a favor. Don't try.”

When his close friend Fred was murdered and her body usurped by the Old One known as Illyria, Lorne became filled with despair which he kept secret from the rest of his equally heartbroken friends. He finally announced that he planned to leave Los Angeles after carrying out his part in Angel's plan to destroy the Circle of the Black Thorn. When Lorne learned what his part was to be, he told Angel that he would do so for him and for their friendship, but afterwards, he would not be joining in the resulting battle against Wolfram & Hart's demon army, and Angel and the others would most likely never see him again.

Lorne's innocence is lost as he shoots Lindsey dead.

After assisting Lindsey in destroying the Sahrvin Clan, Lorne, coldly remarking that he had already heard Lindsey sing and that he would never be part of "the solution", shot Lindsey dead with a silence pistol; in his last words, Lindsey muttered the unfairness of having been killed by a "flunky" rather than his longtime rival Angel. Disgusted and broken, Lorne dropped the gun and walked off into the night.

Lord of Silver Lake

Lorne, depressed after killing Lindsey, wandered the streets of L.A. when the entire city was banished to hell by the Senior Partners in retaliation for the deaths of Marcus Hamilton and the Black Thorn. He simply fled in a demonic taxicab instead of assisting against the resulting demonic invasion. However, the cab was destroyed, and Lorne found himself watching civilians in "Silver Lake" fighting back. Inspired, he assisted them with his vocal powers. Though they were soon joined by a sorceress, many Silver Lake residents die before a permanent demon-free area is established. The people elect Lorne as their leader, and Lorne went to great lengths to make his territory a Heaven in Hell.

Lorne tried to remain neutral as Angel battled the various Demon Lords that had overtaken the rest of Los Angeles. However, he soon changed his mind and threw in fully with his old friends, reforming the Angel Investigations team when Angel faced the other Demon Lords' champions. The Demon Lords were slain and Lorne became the chosen ruler of all of L.A (although he admitted that he had only been given the job because Angel felt that he wouldn't be good at it, despite even Lorne considering Angel the better candidate).

Eventually, Angel tricked the now-vampiric Gunn into killing him, forcing the Senior Partners to create a temporal fold and undo the Fall, returning Los Angeles to Earth. Nonetheless, everyone retained their memories of the Fall, and Lorne, along with the rest of Angel Investigations, quickly became a city-wide celebrity and hero. In the aftermath, Lorne began the process of putting his life back together.

Sacrifice

A short time later, Lorne learned he had developed cancer, something unheard of with his kind, possibly due to his long time presence on Earth or doing something "that was completely and utterly against [his] nature" — murdering Lindsey. As he sought Angel, Lorne became embroiled in a conflict with three entities—Discord, Disharmony, and Cacophony—who attempted to destroy all dimensions by shattering the "Music of the Spheres", which kept all realities in order, taking advantage of the recent disruption caused by the Senior Partners undoing the Fall of Los Angeles. Angel, Illyria, the Groosalugg and Lorne, with the aid of Cordelia the dragon faced the trio, who released three notes which would destroy the universe, by causing its "center" to unbalance. As reality became fractured, Angel prepared to sacrifice himself, only to be told by Lorne that he would be unable to do so because of his lack of singing talent. Singing, Lorne jumped into the portal, thus becoming the new center for the Music of the Spheres, and saving reality.

Afterward, Angel and Groosalugg told the rest of the Angel Investigations staff of Lorne's sacrifice, which had also instilled some level of harmony within reality itself, as if "all the sorrows had been wiped away", according to Angel. Angel remarked that Lorne was one with the universe now, though he preferred to believe that Lorne could still hear them and that he knew how much they missed him. Indeed, Lorne, from his new residence, could hear them and replied, "Oh, I can hear you, Angelcakes, and it's music to my ears."

Post-Twilight

After the Twilight crisis and the end of magic, Gunn told Angel of what the other members of A.I. had been up to since he last saw them, with Gunn remarking that he didn't need to tell Angel what happened to Lorne because he already knew.[2]

Powers and abilities

Lorne was capable of reading people's auras, as well as their futures, while they were singing, humming or whistling. He used this power to set them on their path in life. Lorne could

Lorne attempting to read Cordy to find out why her visions were becoming dangerously physical

also read their thoughts and emotions when he did this, although he had an ability to read basic details about auras even without the need for singing and could read detailed information about people who were in extreme emotional distress without them singing. His powers did not require conscious effort, as he was capable of sensing Holtz's plans to blow up Caritas just by hearing him whistle,[3] as well as Wesley's plans to kidnap Connor by hearing him hum a lullaby.[4] Regardless, his ability was not infallible, and could be fooled by magic and substances such as calendula.

Lorne had excellent hearing, and could hear outside the normal human range, going as far as to tune into transmission frequencies. He could also generate vocal tones in frequencies harmful to human ears and adjust it to different effects, from shattering glass and damaging light bulbs to destroying demons. Like the rest of his species, Lorne was immune to the intoxicating effects of normal alcohol, but could be affected by certain magical brews. Nonetheless, Lorne regularly consumed alcohol to the point of being an alcoholic, favoring Sea Breeze cocktails.

Like the rest of his people, Lorne had the ability to survive the complete removal of his limbs and even beheading, unless his body is mutilated after the dismemberment.

Lorne's still-living disembodied head

For unknown reasons Lorne is also capable of tolerating music, which to the rest of his species would cause agonizing pain. He has also claimed to be able to hold a note indefinitely.

When Lorne's ability to sleep was removed, his powers were altered; instead of sensing destinies, he began to write them, granting him a sort of suggestion power. He inadvertently altered Spike's cynic personality into optimistic and super-positive, made Wesley and Fred act drunk despite having had very little alcohol, made Gunn literally "stake out his territory" by urinating all over the Wolfram & Hart building, and influenced Angel and Eve to have sex with each other. As well as this, his subconscious, unable to cope with the conflicts Lorne usually handled in his sleep, then manifested as a physical projection which possessed superhuman physical attributes, the manifestation attacking those that caused Lorne's anger, including himself. These powers were lost when Lorne's ability to sleep was returned to him.

Also if one of his horns were damaged or removed it could grow back in a matter of days.

Personality and traits

In direct contrast to his Deathwok brethren, Lorne was a peaceful being and preferred to simply relax and enjoy life rather than fight. Above all else, he believed in the inherent goodness of all beings and believed that anyone could turn their lives around if given enough guidance, as shown in his willingness to even let baby-eating demons come to Caritas.

Nonetheless, Lorne did have a vicious side rarely shown; when Fred was dying from her infection with Illyria's essence, while he, Angel, and Spike were investigating Lindsey's home for any evidence connecting him to the incident and found Eve, Lorne punched her in the face and warned her that he would kill her himself if he found out that she had any involvement.

Sexuality

Lorne had an ambiguous sexual orientation, and was the only member of Team Angel who never had any romantic relationships. Though he frequently flirted with his A.I. teammates (especially Angel), the series never made it clear which way he was inclined; however, as the only female of Lorne's race shown was his bearded, masculine mother, it could be that Pylea has different views on genders and sexuality than Earth. Andy Hallett stated that he deliberately kept Lorne's orientation vague, only stating that Lorne loves "all humans" equally.

Lorne's behavior is stereotypically homosexual, as seen in his love of showtunes, music divas, and affectionate pet-names for people such as "honey" and "sugar." He comments on more than one occasion that his heart is in his ass, a playful double-entendre given the ambiguous sexuality and camp flamboyance of the character. However, several moments in the series hinted towards Lorne's heterosexuality; at one point, Lorne told his cousin, Landokmar of the Deathwok Clan, that he flirted with girls and "gathered a little love" while they were out hunting.[5] At one point, he told Angel that he would go straight for Cordelia if she had a "thing" for green. After Fred's death, he remarked that he started drinking when "a girl [he] loved" was dying; although this is not necessarily indicative of romantic love.[6]

Behind the Scenes

He appeared in 76 episodes in total, 46 as a guest and 30 as a regular character.

After the actor's death, the character was given a farewell too in a special one-shot by IDW Publishing; although they intended to retire the character for a while out of respect for Andy Hallett, they suggested the character would return eventually. After the Angel comic license returned to Dark Horse Comics, the future of the character became unclear.

His favorite drink is a Seabreeze, a mixture of cranberry and grapefruit juices with vodka. He insisted that the ones sold in Caritas always be made with freshly-squeezed grapefruit juice rather than canned.

Lorne is similar to Nightcrawler, a principal member of X-Men. In spite of their appearance similar to a devil, they demonstrate joyful and a little exuberant personality for their teammates. Furthermore, they are the only members of their respective teams to have no human appearance even in their civilian identities.